


The Important Things in Life

by zenonaa



Category: Dangan Ronpa
Genre: Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-09-24 10:59:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9720725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zenonaa/pseuds/zenonaa
Summary: "In Leon’s life, there were many things that he didn’t prepare for. Class. Exams. Baseball games. However, when it came to the important things in life, Leon knuckled down."The class hire a room at a karaoke restaurant for a mixer.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> some ships will appear more later and i'll probably add more ships to the tags as i update this.
> 
> this turned out less shippy than i planned, oh well.
> 
> happy valentine's day!

Fate.

It was fate.

Leon scribbled the number eight under a column of names already written on the whiteboard easel borrowed from one of the science classrooms, and then he did the same below an adjacent column of names.

“It’s exactly fifty-fifty,” announced Leon. He popped the cap of his pen back on and turned away from the board. Across from him, sat at the end of his bed, were Mondo and Kiyotaka, and beyond them was Yasuhiro, perched on Leon’s desk with his feet on the seat of a chair.

Mondo propped his chin in his right palm. His eyes flickered, either because he rolled them or because he was skimming through what Leon had written down.

“What?” asked Leon. “Hey, are you seriously counting? It’s eight on both sides! I can count!”

This prompted Kiyotaka to check the totals on both sides, completely unnecessarily.

“It is eight on both sides,” Kiyotaka proclaimed.

Leon shot a glare at them. “Thanks for the confidence.”

“The numbers add up, but you’re not taking a few things into account,” remarked Yasuhiro, who was leaning back a bit and balancing a pencil between his upper lip and nose. “Like, rumours have it that the Ogre has a boyfriend, and there’s no way Togami-chi’s going to come along... or Fukawa-chi...”

His pencil fell off and landed somewhere on the floor, so Yasuhiro ducked down to retrieve it.

“Okay, then we’ll just not invite one of the guys as well. It’s no big deal,” said Leon with a shrug. Besides, neither Sakura or Touko were his type, so he wasn’t missing out or anything.

“It’s not gonna be just them that won’t come. Fujisaki will probably say no,” Mondo chimed in.

Leon flapped a hand. “She won’t need much persuading.”

Yasuhiro sat up, reunited with his pencil, but he didn’t return it to his face. He set it down beside him and rubbed his chin. “Don’t forget Yamada-chi, ‘right? He’ll say something about it being a waste of time because he’s only into fictional girls...”

Debateable.

“... and I’m pretty sure Celes-chi isn’t even into guys,” finished Yasuhiro.

Less debatable.

Leon pursed his lips.

“There’s also the matter of us still being in school,” Kiyotaka piped up, right index finger raised. “I, for one, wish to do my maths homework on that afternoon, so I cannot say for certain that I will be joining you.”

He planned to do maths homework on a Saturday afternoon. Of course Kiyotaka planned to do maths homework on a Saturday afternoon.

“Yeah, and I don’t like karaoke, so I’ll pass,” said Mondo.

“I’ll probably be napping,” admitted Yasuhiro.

Kiyotaka pressed the thumb side of his fist against his mouth. “Besides, dating isn’t a priority... There will be time for courting after we graduate, so please change my ‘maybe’ into a ‘decline’. You know, Kuwata-kun, if you showed this much dedication to your studies, then you wouldn’t be so behind!”

“Listen! Everyone’s coming, okay?” huffed Leon, who by now had lost track of the ratio of boys to girls.

Mondo and Kiyotaka lowered their brows at the same time.

Leon waved his arm in front of the whiteboard. “And like, it doesn’t have to lead to dating. Mixers are places where you can make friends and stuff. Maizono’s gonna invite all of the girls... Trust me, no guy or girl can say no to that cute face of hers.”

Yasuhiro folded his arms over his chest and dipped his head down and to the side slightly. “Dude’s got a point.”

“And you, Oowada!” Leon flung his arm out straight, pointing his finger at Mondo. “You don’t want to keep screaming at every girl that catches your eye, do you?”

Continuing to do so would be quite annoying so Mondo nodded.

“So ain’t this a good way to overcome that?” asked Leon.

Mondo looked off to the side. “I guess...”

Leon shifted his finger over to Kiyotaka. “Now you... Ishimaru, don’t you reckon that a mixer would help strengthen our bonds or something sappy like that? Picture this...”

He retracted his arm and arranged his thumbs and index fingers into the perimetre of a rectangle, which he peered at Kiyotaka through like one would position themselves with a camera. Kiyotaka stared back at him through the gap, his eyes narrowed.

“Everyone getting to know each other... forming a close knit class... Wouldn’t that build morale?”

“I... think I understand,” said Kiyotaka slowly. “I have changed my mind... Please note that I will be in attendance!”

“And it’s all expenses paid,” added Leon.

Yasuhiro straightened up. “What time is it at again?”

Leon stretched out a smile.

“Yeah, yeah. But I’d get that smug look off your face until later if I was you. You still have to convince the others to come along,” Mondo reminded Leon, who smirked and wiped the back of his hand across his nose.

“I’ve got five days to convince everyone,” said Leon. “Six including the first half of Saturday. Easy.”

* * *

 

Well, Leon thought it would be easy, but he got off to a shaky start. That same day, he checked the library even if he thought it aged him a few years when he breathed in the smell of musk and sweat, he flitted in and out of the recreation room, spent twenty minutes intermittently pressing the doorbell of Byakuya’s dormitory room between games of Snake on his phone and he reenacted the game in the cafeteria before going outside.

If he didn’t find Byakuya soon, Leon would have to wait until classes tomorrow, but Leon didn’t want to have to resort to that. A big perk of attending Hope’s Peak was that classes weren’t compulsory but if he went into their homeroom to invite Byakuya, he might then find himself forced to stay if the teacher walked in on them.

Alternatively, he could leave a note under his door, but Leon suspected that Byakuya would only accept the invitation after a pep talk. 

Lady Luck took mercy on Leon, thankfully, as when he entered the central plaza, he spied Byakuya’s silhouette up ahead, dragging a long shadow behind it.

“Yo, Togami!”

Byakuya’s pace didn’t falter.

Undeterred, Leon broke into a half-sprint, half-jog. No one else was at the plaza, so Leon didn’t have to dodge around anyone and Byakuya couldn’t disappear into a crowd. One of the advantages of being forced to play baseball was that as a result, he caught up to Byakuya in a few seconds. 

Leon seized Byakuya’s shoulder. That prompted Byakuya to stop walking entirely.

To their left, water gushed down stone tiers. The setting sun cast an orange over them that if Leon had been with someone cuter, could have been considered romantic.

“You got a minute?” Leon asked.

There was a pause. Then Byakuya turned his head and stared at Leon from over his shoulder with a creepy, blank expression.

“Don’t touch me,” came Byakuya’s terse reply.

Leon withdrew his hand and stepped back for good measure.

“Relax,” said Leon, showing Byakuya his palms. Byakuya didn’t move, or say anything, so Leon carried on talking. “I don’t suppose you’re busy this Saturday?”

“Let me guess. You want me to go somewhere with you,” said Byakuya. He studied Leon’s face for a moment, and then turned his head forward, meaning Leon couldn’t see his face anymore. Only the back of him. “It’s not so much a matter of if I’m busy, but whether you can offer me a prospect more engaging than what I may or may not have planned.”

“A mixer.” Leon pressed his palms together and pointed his fingers at Byakuya.

“What? You wish to give me a mixer? Is this a bribe? You can’t be serious...”

Leon thought the same about Byakuya. He ruffled his own hair before saying, “No. Dude. A mixer... Not an actual mixer, like for food. I’m guessing a guy like you hasn’t been to one.”

“I don’t believe I have,” said Byakuya. This time, not only did he turn his head, but he turned the rest of his body too. He nudged up his glasses and folded his arms over his chest. “Explain.”

“Okay. Here’s the gist of it.” Leon raised his hands, holding them out in a way that made it look like he was carrying an invisible football. “A mixer is when a guy and his guy friends meet up with a chick and her chick friends, and they hang out...”

Byakuya wrinkled his nose.

“... and stuff,” Leon finished somewhat flatly. He tweaked his jacket’s collar and quickly added, “And when I say ‘chicks’, I mean girls. Not chickens.”

“I know what you meant,” snapped Byakuya. The lenses in his glasses glinted. “I’m almost impressed.”

Rather cruelly, Byakuya left a long enough pause for Leon to start getting his hopes up.

“I didn’t have any plans for Saturday, yet you found something less engaging than a lack of anything to do,” said Byakuya.

By the time that Leon realised that he had been turned down and most likely insulted, Byakuya had pivoted on his heel and strode off. Leon bristled and staggered after him. Normally, he would cuss out someone who disrespected him like that, but Leon could do with a guy like Byakuya around. When Leon caught up to him, without thinking, he slapped Byakuya on the back. 

Byakuya stopped abruptly. The impact jogged his glasses down his nose.

In Leon’s life, there were many things that he didn’t prepare for. Class. Exams. Baseball games. However, when it came to the important things in life, Leon knuckled down.

“The heir to a distinguished family like yourself is going to get married some day, right?” said Leon, slipping his hand up Byakuya’s back to Byakuya’s shoulder in what Leon knew to be a one-armed hug, informally known as a wallet rub hug, but Byakuya stiffened like Leon planned to bend his arm around his neck and strangle him without any given notice.

“Yes, to whoever proves themselves superior to every other candidate by producing the highest calibre child,” replied Byakuya. He plucked Leon’s arm off him and dusted his shoulders.

Leon plastered on a grin, acting like what Byakuya said wasn’t weird at all. If the guy used a game show to select his wife or something like that, more power to him. “Yeah, but do you know where you’ll find the best birds? This very school that you and I are both enrolled at.”

Byakuya cupped his chin. That was promising.

“Everyone here was asked to attend this school because they were considered the best at what they do,” said Leon. He stood as close to Byakuya’s side as he could without touching him. “Surely you want to pick someone who goes to school here?”

This time, the absence of a reply wasn’t discouraging. Byakuya scratched his chin.

“That... isn’t as idiotic as what you usually say,” admitted Byakuya, apparently unable to compliment someone without insulting them at the same time. Still, Leon would take what he was given. If this was someone else, Leon would complain, but he wanted to keep on Byakuya’s good side. The guy was rich. Byakuya stopped scratching his chin and said, “Saturday, was it?”

“Yeah,” said Leon. “There are some, uh, expenses that need paying, however...”

* * *

 

The recreation room wasn’t too busy that night. Three students, including Leon, congregated at the coffee table, which currently sported a chessboard. Nearby, two of Leon’s upperclassmen were playing at the pool table and Sakura was on the couch with her best friend, Aoi, reading a fashion magazine.

“Who else will be there?” asked Celes as she hopped her knight toward the centre of the board. She leaned back and rested her chin on the back of her hand, examining the current state of the game.

“Our whole class,” Leon promised, stood over her.

One of the upperclassman struck the cue ball before Celes could reply. She pinched her lips together as the upperclassman flicked himself on the end of the nose, shark-like teeth showing in a proud grin.

When the rumbling of balls finished, Celes arched her eyebrows and though she was looking at Kyouko, who was currently weighing her options for her next move, Celes was clearly talking to Leon. “You persuaded the entire class to attend your rendezvous?”

“I’m in the process of inviting everyone,” explained Leon. He puffed out his chest. “Even Togami’s coming.”

Which meant Touko was coming, but Leon wasn’t bothered about that. Out of his entire class, she ranked in the bottom two girls that he would date.

“Well, I wouldn’t want to be the odd one out,” remarked Celes. “Kirigiri-san, can I expect to see you there?”

Kyouko slid a pawn to an adjacent square. “Yes.”

“Then I will certainly be there.” Celes smiled at her. After a few seconds, she lowered her hands and bent forward so she could better see the board.

She hadn’t made her next move before the door opened wider and Hifumi padded in, carrying a tray with a teapot and two cups. Hifumi hadn’t been present when Leon swaggered into the recreation room earlier, so Leon assumed neither of the cups were meant for him. 

Indeed, after Hifumi set down the tray and poured in the tea, Celes and Kyouko claimed a cup and saucer each.

“Forgive my nosiness, but did I overhear you discussing the mixer this Saturday?” asked Hifumi.

“Yep,” said Leon. “Everyone’s going to be there.”

Hifumi pushed up his glasses. “That is a bold assertion that you’re making.”

“Assertions are bold by default,” Celes commented.

Leon tried to pull Hifumi into his reliable wallet rub hug, only to be thwarted by Hifumi’s great girth. His one with Byakuya had been way more successful.

“I can trust you to come, can’t I?” asked Leon.

“I can make no such promise,” replied Hifumi.

“So that’s a yes?”

“Certainly not! I said that I can make no such promise!”

“Dude.” Leon jerked the hand of the arm that he wasn’t reaching around Hifumi. “You’ve gotta come. Like I said, everyone’s going to be there, and you don’t want to be the odd one out, do you?”

“Many a protag come from beginnings of isolation and rejection. It is not something that I fear, but something that I embrace!”

The guy had an ahoge and thought that made him someone important. Classic Hifumi logic. In this situation, however, Hifumi wasn’t totally wrong. He would play an important part in this mixer... as the unattractive guy that served to make the other guys seem hotter by comparison. Leon didn’t need Hifumi, but his companions could benefit from him.

“Even if you’re not into real girls, you can always hang out with the rest of the guys,” said Leon. “There’s going to be karaoke, and food... You like those things, don’t you? And maybe you’ll find out that one of the girls like those things too.”

Hifumi bit on a fingernail.

Celes touched her hand against her heart and lamented, “God chose quite the disagreeable character as the narrative voice, didn’t she?”

Leon quirked his brow. “What?”

“Don’t worry about it.” She glanced at what appeared to be empty space.

* * *

 

The lighting in the karaoke room tinted the mahogany table, flooring and wooden slat walls pink. Leon admired his shadow as he claimed a seat on the pink u-shaped couch that surrounded three sides of the table. Close behind were Kiyotaka, Chihiro, Hifumi, Aoi and Sakura, who he met in the entrance of the establishment and who accompanied him in being led to a private room by an employee in a black t-shirt.

“Guys on one side, girls on the other,” said Leon, in the corner. “Everyone’s going to have to budge up to fit everyone. Bags go under the table or by the door.”

Across from Leon, Chihiro shuffled sideways between couch and table and sat down in the corner where Leon wasn’t, on the length of couch that connected the twos sides that faced each other. Aoi and Sakura followed in after Chihiro, Aoi before Sakura, and they sat in the corner as well but on the line of seats opposite Leon. Kiyotaka occupied the space next to Leon, back straight. Hifumi flanked Kiyotaka’s other side.

A flat screen hung on each wall behind the couch, all three currently showing a screensaver of dancing colours over a black background. On the table in the centre were several cans, packets of crisps, three microphones and a remote control device. Leon picked up one of the cans. It hissed on opening, and he poured the contents into one of the sixteen glasses set out. What looked like beer filled the glass, but it actually contained a non-alcoholic beverage. The top of the drink was more bubbly than foamy, and the room wasn’t dim enough to hide this fact. He took a swig and detected a hint of honey, but the taste of yeast overpowered it.

Still. Not bad. Leon had drank worse.

“So...” Aoi said. “Karaoke, huh?”

Sakura inclined her head forward. “Indeed.”

Aoi kicked her legs lightly. “I’ve never done karaoke before.”

“Me neither,” admitted Chihiro, shoulders hunched. “I think I’ll just listen to everyone... If I tried to sing, I would probably muddle up all the words.”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Aoi assured Chihiro. She gave Chihiro’s shoulder a squeeze. “It’s not like anyone’s going to be grading you. Everyone’s going to be too busy having fun to make fun of you.”

Chihiro’s bottom lip started to get chewed on.

Hifumi gave an enthusiastic nod. “Fujisaki Chihiro-dono, I suggest that you and I form a pact to battle against the noise! I checked the catalog of songs, and there is a song that I think would suit you... It’s called 'Love Hime Pancake'!”

He stuck up his index fingers and swayed them from side-to-side as he sang.

“Lovely chance pancake girl...! Lovely chance pancake girl!”

Clapping sounded from the doorway. Hifumi stopped singing and everyone turned toward where the noise came from. Sayaka lowered her hands and walked in, accompanied by Mukuro and Kyouko.

Leon bared his teeth in a grin and motioned toward where Aoi and Sakura were stationed. “Girls that side!”

“Why?” asked Kyouko.

“Eh?”

Kyouko let Mukuro and Sayaka proceed toward the side of the couch where the rest of the girls present were sat. She fixed her eyes onto him. “Why are you separating us by gender?”

“That’s how it goes, you know?” said Leon. He finished his glass but didn’t put it down. “Sitting opposite you lets us talk to you guys, but sitting with the same gender lets us whisper among ourselves.”

“Whisper about what?” asked Aoi.

“The people opposite us.”

Aoi widened her eyes. “Oh!”

Leon didn’t bother to reply, and Aoi poured drink from a can into one of the glasses. His answer seemed to satisfy Kyouko as well, because she sat down.

Kiyotaka pushed up his sleeve and frowned at his watch. 

“We were due to start five minutes ago!” he said. “Don’t they know that they’re not just being discourteous, but cutting into the allotted time?”

“Maybe someone should wait in the lobby?” suggested Sayaka.

“I will,” said not just Hifumi but Kiyotaka too, and they stood up at the same time as well. They locked eyes and one could have lit a cigarette on the spark that flickered between them.

Hifumi had the upper hand due to being seated between Kiyotaka and the only exit unless Kiyotaka decided to wiggle past Leon and the girls, so Kiyotaka had no choice but to wait for Hifumi to step out of their row, after which Hifumi waddled over to the door.

Kiyotaka’s lips thinned. Leon crawled over to the end of the couch and tugged Kiyotaka’s arm, trying to get him to sit back down, but Kiyotaka ignored him, staring at the door. Rolling his eyes, Leon let go Kiyotaka and stayed where he was.

“So, who’s going to sing first?” asked Sayaka.

“How about our class’ very own pop sensation?” suggested Leon. He slapped on a grin and raised his empty glass above his head.

Sayaka smiled slightly. “Sure.”

Successfully distracted, Kiyotaka turned to her and said, “That’s a good idea! While we wait for the others to arrive, we ought to use our time wisely! After all, you can’t get time back. Will you be singing solo, or in a group? Maizono-kun?”

“Well...” She bit her lip. “I prefer singing with other people. I mean, I can sing by myself, but the reason I wanted to become an idol was to feel less alone. Ever since I was young, that has been my desire.”

“No one asked for your backstory,” muttered Mukuro, speaking for the first time since she arrived.

A beat of silence passed.

“Ikusaba-san, why don’t you sing with me?” asked Sayaka in a light tone.

Mukuro folded her arms over her chest and turned her head away. “No thanks.”

“I’ll sing with you,” offered Leon, but Sayaka shook her head.

“I think if Ikusaba-san sang with me, even if it was just one song, then I think she would understand,” said Sayaka. She stood up and offered Mukuro her hand, but Mukuro didn’t take it. “Please? Just one song?”

Sayaka batted her eyelashes. Mukuro flushed. Her freckles became harder to pick out.

“Whatever,” she grumbled, unable to meet Sayaka’s eyes, and though she didn’t take Sayaka’s hand, she did stand up.

The two girls moved away the couch and picked up a microphone each from the table. They hadn’t needed to, because the microphones were wireless so could be passed around, but Leon had seen plenty of Sayaka’s performances and so knew that she tended to jump around a lot. Leon set down his empty glass, not onto any of the sixteen coasters, and took the remote. He tested a few buttons before bringing up a menu on the three screens.

“See any you like?” he asked as he slowly scrolled through the list.

“Actually, I already know what song we should sing,” said Sayaka. “'Izakaya', please.”

Leon moved the cursor to an icon of a magnifying glass. Using the onscreen keyboard, he typed in the name of the song. It popped up on the screen and he clicked a few more times.

Music started to play, saxophone and drums most notable and nowhere near as fast as what Sayaka usually sung to on stage. Sayaka smiled at Mukuro, who pointedly looked at the screen as she waited for the lyrics to appear. Normally, Leon didn’t pay much attention to Mukuro. As an individual, at least. Mukuro tended to trail after her twin sister, Junko, like a shadow. 

Now, Junko... Junko was a character. She was louder, more upbeat, smarter and bustier, and she could get away with not brushing her strawberry blonde hair while Mukuro’s black tousled bob just looked uncombed, like she just jumped out of bed.

He couldn’t really blame Mukuro. A name like hers destined her to have the personality of a damp hand towel.

“If there’s something you don’t hate, have a drink,” Sayaka sang in a voice worthy of someone who attended a place like Hope’s Peak, though smokier than usual.

Mukuro breathed in. More soulful than one would expect from a soldier, Mukuro responded, “Yeah, I’ll come right out and have a double bourbon.”

“I’m not gauche enough to ask your name, let alone anything about you.”

“Yeah, we just happen to be sitting together at a pub.”

Then, at the same time, both sang,

“In a shabby pub with no pictures, no flowers, no songs or flowery words.”

They looked at each other for longer than a glance. Everyone else remained silent. No one spoke even as Mondo and Celes entered the room and neither did they, slipping past the two girls and sitting quickly. Mondo squeezed past Leon, who was still sat in the entrance of that line of seats, and seated himself in the corner at the end. Leon gave Kiyotaka another tug.

This time, Kiyotaka let Leon pull him into the aisle between table and couch, and he passed by Leon and sat next to Mondo. Across from them, Kyouko slid through where Mukuro and Sayaka had been sat so she was next to Sakura. Celes took a seat next to Kyouko.

“If you’re thinking of going outside, I think it’s raining,” Sayaka sang. “I heard the pitter-patter of drizzle before.”

Mukuro wringed her microphone. “It’s okay. I’ll stay here until it stops. I’ll sit here and chug down drinks on my own.”

Sayaka shook her head, almost like she wasn’t singing a song but singing her feelings. She was so talented. “In that case, should I stay with you until the morning? I’ve met some bad girls.”

“You don’t need to worry about that. You just go on home.”

They sang together again, not to the audience, but to each other.

“In a shabby pub with no pictures, no flowers, no songs or flowery words.”

The music came to a close and for a few seconds, no one reacted beyond staring at the pair. Sayaka seemed unperturbed, but Mukuro fidgeted with the microphone, eyes downcast and cheeks pink.

Applause broke out from the doorway. “Woo, check out my Big Sis!”

Mukuro’s head snapped up. Junko smirked and strutted in, Yasuhiro close behind her. That meant most of the class were here. Not including Hifumi, only Makoto, Byakuya and Touko were absent, and Leon trusted that they would come fairly soon. It was odd that a goody two shoes like Makoto hadn’t been one of the first to arrive.

Yasuhiro slipped past Leon and sat next to Kiyotaka. Leon decided to stop getting in the way of everyone coming in this side and moved up to sit beside Yasuhiro.

“You know, my ears actually don’t want to throw up,” remarked Junko as she took a seat beside Celes.

“R-Really?” asked Mukuro, squeezing the microphone tightly.

“Yes!”

“You mean it?”

Junko flapped her hands and rolled her eyes. “Yes! What, do you have vomit stuffed up your ears? Learn to take a compliment faster, okay? And sit down already.”

Mukuro nodded and stepped toward their side of the couch, though she hesitated when she noticed Sayaka return her microphone to the table. Quickly, Mukuro did the same, and she pushed past Sayaka to sit next to Junko. Sayaka sat on Mukuro’s other side without a word and poured herself a drink from a can.

“Who wants to go next?” asked Leon.

Aoi raised her hand. “I’ll go! But I don’t know many duets...”

“Duets were cool like thirty years ago,” said Junko. She prodded her thumb against her temple and twisted. “I can understand it from Muku, whose brain is like real slow, and Maizono-san acts like she’s forty sometimes. But you, Asahina-san? C’mon.”

Sayaka’s smile shrank a bit while Aoi’s wobbly one fell off completely.

“If Asahina wishes to sing with someone else,” said Sakura in an unnaturally even tone, “then she can.”

“It’s fine!” Aoi patted Sakura’s arm. “I can do it, no problem. I even know what song I want to sing. Yo, Kuwata.”

She saluted.

“Put on 'Dream Fighter'.”

Yasuhiro gasped behind his hand. “A surprisingly girly song!”

“Eh?” went Aoi, lowering her hand.

Sakura threw a glare hot enough to make Yasuhiro cower, but when she turned to Aoi, it had cooled. “I would love to hear you sing that, Asahina.”

Aoi gave a hum of acknowledgement and nodded.

Leon did as instructed. Kyouko reached over the table, grabbed one of the microphones and passed it to Aoi. The music in the song that Aoi chose was a lot more cheerful than what Sayaka and Mukuro sang to. Initially, Aoi started shakily, but a nod from Sakura and a thumbs up from Kyouko and Sayaka strengthened her voice. 

“So,” said Leon. He nudged Yasuhiro in the ribs. “Asahina, huh?”

Yasuhiro cupped his chin. “Asahina-chi’s pretty good for a swimmer, at singing.”

His features darkened all of a sudden.

“You don’t think it’s because she’s a siren, do you?”

“Huh?” said Leon. “Speak Japanese, not Jabbernese.”

With the same grim expression, Yasuhiro stared forward.

Aoi didn’t hear their conversation, her attention on the song. “Hey, this normal that everyone talks about, I guess it's probably set in stone...”

After a few more lines, Leon added, “You think she could be the one?”

“I’d have to ask my crystal ball,” said Yasuhiro.

Leon tapped himself on the chest with his fist. “Go with your instincts, man!”

A few people glanced at him. He coughed and they turned back to one of the screens.

Yasuhiro grimaced and kept his voice low. “If I’m honest, my instincts are telling me that Asahina-chi doesn’t swing that way.”

“Huh?” Leon’s eyebrows squished together and he turned to Aoi.

“Aim for the best, to go on a never-ending journey. It's surely proof that we're living. Even if it's painful, you will surely, always, possess the strength to never give up,” sang Aoi, and he followed her gaze to Sakura’s soft expression.

“... Fair enough,” said Leon.

“So we kept running too, yeah! Every tear you spill is a treasure, oh! Yeah!” she sang. Worthy of note was that Aoi pumped one of her fists as she performed, wiggling as she danced. “Oh! Yeah! Reality can beat us down pretty badly, but surely, look forward and walk, Dream Fighter!”

The song concluded and Sayaka clapped first, inspiring the others to do so as well. 

Bubbling with joy, Aoi said, “Woo! That wasn’t bad at all!”

Sakura retrieved a plastic bottle of water from her satchel on the floor and passed the drink to Aoi, who guzzled some of it down.

“Y-You were really good,” Chihiro complimented.

Aoi smacked her lips and shone her smile at Chihiro. “Aw, thanks!”

Chihiro’s cheeks burned pink.

“It was passable,” drawled someone from the doorway. Byakuya walked into the room, one hand in his trouser pocket. Even in his free time, the guy wore a suit. Not their uniform, which only Kiyotaka wore to this event, but a dark suit. Everyone else dressed more casually. Lined up behind Byakuya were Touko and Makoto, and bringing up the rear of the group was Hifumi.

“I’ll take what I can get,” said Aoi, some of her gusto gone.

He clicked his tongue in disapproval, glanced at the bags by the door but didn’t put his satchel there and sat beside Leon. They were beginning to run out of room, so everyone scooted along, meaning Mondo and Kiyotaka went onto the line of couch connecting the boys’ side to the girls’ side. The girls did the same, and so Chihiro sat with Aoi on one side and Mondo on the other. Now with more space at the ends of the couch, Makoto sat next to Byakuya, and Hifumi sat beside Makoto. Touko padded over to the girls’ side and seated herself near the edge, next to Sayaka, and hung her head, fingers scratching at her lap.

They were still cramped, what with there being sixteen of them, but they fitted. Barely. As long as they had all used deodorant, they’d be fine.

Junko sat up straight and said, “Oi, someone pass me a mike.”

Makoto reached for the microphone on the table but Aoi gave hers to Sakura and that microphone travelled up to Junko, so Makoto reclined again.

“'Okaa-san', pwease,” said Junko.

Sayaka tensed.

“Is something wrong, Yamada-kun?” asked Makoto, and Leon realised that Hifumi had given a similar reaction to Sayaka.

“Okaa-san,” murmured Hifumi.

“Okaa-san,” said Celes with a smile. “I commend your choice, Enoshima-san. I was contemplating singing that song myself, funnily enough.”

“Well, I chose it,” said Junko in a singsong voice.

Leon located the song and played it. As soon as it started, he got a bad feeling. The music was ominous and creepy enough on its own, but then Junko began her contribution. 

Junko didn’t sing as such, but blurted the lyrics in monotone.

“Twisting,” said Junko. “Twisting. Twisting. The... neck... is... twisting.”

Mondo and Kiyotaka stared.

“Squeak. Squeak. Squeak. Making... the... noise,” said Junko, face devoid of emotion.

Aoi’s forehead creased.

“My... mother... is... here. Only... her... neck... will... be... twisting.” Junk grasped her neck. “My... mother... will... look... at... me... where... my... neck... is.”

Touko touched a hand to her neck, looking queasy.

“My... mother... is... here. Only... her... neck... will... be... twisting. My... mother... is... here. Only... her... neck... will... be... twisting. My... mother... is... coming…” Junko’s eyes widened as much as they could, glassy. “You... must... run... away... right... now. My... mother... is... coming.”

Her speech slowed even more. Makoto trembled.

“She… already…. got me.”

Some silence passed.

Junko screamed. Hifumi, Aoi, Touko and Yasuhiro screamed back at her.

“Thank you!” said Junko cheerfully and she stood up just so she could bow, and then she sat down again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wanted to get this chapter published before i flew out to see my girlfriend

No one knew what to say, which seemed to please Junko immensely as she looked around, grinning from ear to ear. The only people who didn’t appear particularly affected were Kyouko, Byakuya and Celes. Kyouko stared into space, Byakuya yawned silently into the side of his hand and Celes blinked once.

Sayaka, Chihiro and Mukuro grabbed a can of fake beer for themselves, while Hifumi, Yasuhiro and Mondo got themselves a packet of crisps each. Inspired by them, Leon tore open a packet and stuffed several crisps into the mouth, crunching while no one was currently singing.

“Anyone want some chocolate?” asked Makoto. He bent down, unzipped his backpack and rummaged through it. “I brought a few bars.”

Sayaka shook her head. “Chocolate can cause phlegm which affects the vocal cords, making your voice crack.”

Makoto wavered. “Oh.”

“I’ve already sang, so I would like one,” Mukuro piped up, raising her hand.

Junko prodded Mukuro’s tummy. “You sure?”

Mukuro cringed. Makoto passed her a chocolate bar, which Mukuro accepted but held in her hands for the time being.

“Thanks,” said Mukuro.

“No problem,” he responded with a grin that made her colour a little.

Celes cleared her throat.

“Microphone, please,” said Celes politely.

Junko stopped poking her sister and handed over the microphone.

“Thank you,” said Celes. She positioned it near her mouth. “I will be singing 'A Thousand Winds'.”

Mondo quirked his brow. “Ain’t that a poem people read at funerals?”

Leon had already chosen it, but Celes said, “You are correct.”

Therefore, Leon didn’t need to quit out of the song.

A piano tinkled in solitude at the beginning, soon joined by a background hum that as cheesy as it sounded, reminded Leon of angels singing even if he never heard an actual angel’s voice. The humming stopped when Celes sang.

“Please do not weep in front of my grave. I am not there. I am not sleeping,” she crooned.

In the first break of the song, more instruments could be heard. Drums. Violin. The melancholy piece took a more hopeful tone, as subtle and faint though it was, as the song progressed. Celes carried on with a small smile, never changing in how she used her voice. At a certain angle, her eyes gave a twinkle, but Leon couldn’t find it again after he glimpsed it. He placed his hands behind his head and let the half-eaten packet of crisps rest undisturbed on his lap.

“A thousand winds,” sang Celes, the song drawing to a close. “I became a thousand winds and am blowing across that open sky. I am blowing across that open sky.”

The song expired.

“T-That was incredible,” Aoi sniffled. Sakura gave Aoi a tissue. Aoi dabbed at her eyes and then blew into it.

Celes wrinkled her nose but didn’t lose her smile. “Thank you, Asahina-san.”

Leon didn’t say anything, and he definitely didn’t cry, but he agreed that Celes’s performance was moving. The air felt heavy now, like the ghost of a ritualist murderer had locked him in his apartment and any and all thumps on the door or windows were muted by an unknown force.

“I’m getting seriously bad vibes now,” said Yasuhiro with a pinched expression, of similar mind to Leon. “Karaoke is supposed to happy, ‘right? But now I just want to lie in bed all day...”

“As if you don’t do that anyway,” said Touko.

Yasuhiro thumped himself on the chest, like trying to knock off the gloom pressing down on him.

“It’s up to me to dispel the doom and gloom, and I know the perfect song.” He lifted his head. “Kuwata-chi, put on 'A Cruel Angel's Thesis'.”

Though he was an unreliable guy, on this occasion, Yasuhiro came through. The song was from a popular anime, and if singing along during someone else’s turn wasn’t considered seriously uncool, Leon would have chimed in with Yasuhiro. Certainly, Yasuhiro’s performance, loud and passionate and given like he could let out a laugh at any time, dangled temptation between Leon’s eyes. However, Leon wouldn’t make a fool of himself, so just tapped his foot to the music.

“The cradle of love that sleeps within me... There will be a morning that a servant of dreams will come for you,” Yasuhiro sang, having gone with the full version of the song. He swept his hand like washing a window, then balled it into a fist. “The moonlight shines on your thin neckline. I'd stop time in this world and lock it away for myself, but...”

His eyes gleamed before he scrunched them shut.

“If there is any meaning in the fate that pulled us together, then I am, yes, the Bible  
that teaches you of freedom.”

Yasuhiro was way too eager, punching the air and twisting his body this way and that with different poses and whacking Kiyotaka and Leon with his hair in certain movements. Talk about embarrassing. Leon smirked and surveyed the faces around him, expecting to find everyone with similar opinions, but while Aoi stared blankly, others like Mondo and Makoto leaned forward in their seats and grins littered the room. People who seldom smiled, like Byakuya and Touko, didn’t smile, and for some reason, Hifumi didn’t either even though the guy probably owned a stash of Rei figures. Even Celes and Kyouko had small smiles.

“Young boy, shine like a legend, holding the sky in your arms!” concluded Yasuhiro. He bowed his head into his elbow, like one might if they anticipated a cough or sneeze, with his other arm stretched up and out in what many called a ‘dab’.

“Hmph.” Hifumi adjusted his glasses. By now, the music had finished. “I give your performance a C-rank, both in choice of song and ability... A B-rank at a push, but not an A-rank and certainly not an S-rank.”

“Aren’t ranks Celes’s thing?” asked Aoi.

Celes clamped her lips together but didn’t comment on the comparison, difficult though that might have been.

Kiyotaka widened his eyes at Hifumi and clenched his fist in front of him, leaning forward. “Hagakure-kun’s performance was worthy of more than a C-rank! The lyrics... were utterly motivating! Like a pep talk that speaks to one’s very soul...!”

“It’s from an anime,” grumbled Touko.

“A painfully mainstream one at that,” Celes added.

Byakuya clicked his tongue.

Yasuhiro pointed at Touko. “First, anime changes lives! It teaches important lessons like friendship, hope and what hairstyles mothers shouldn’t have!”

His finger shifted to Celes.

“If something’s popular, and lots of people like it, don’t you think that might mean it’s because it’s good? You should like whatever you like, regardless of if other people like it. If lots of people like it, you can share it with them, and if not many people do, cool, because it makes you happy.”

“Hagakure-kun, I’ve never seen this side of you before!” Kiyotaka exclaimed. His hand, still out in a fist in front of him, retracted to grasp the area of shirt over his heart.

Mondo pulled a face. “He got that from that web series about barbie dolls that he made me watch.”

Ignoring him, Yasuhiro slouched forward and landed his finger in Byakuya’s direction, arm stretched out across Leon, who sat between them. “And don’t think I didn’t see your foot jigging, Togami-chi!”

Byakuya’s face darkened but he didn’t deny it. He crossed one leg over the other and turned away from his accuser. Leon swatted Yasuhiro’s arm away.

“All very true, Hagakure Yasuhiro-dono,” said Hifumi. “Anime is creation, life and death, the beginning and the end... It inspires many of us to create our own works, such as doujin and fanfiction... ah, I feel a fluttering in my chest... My destiny is calling for me...”

Leon squinted.

“Are you trying to say you wish to sing next?” asked Celes.

Hifumi nodded. “Astute as always, Celes-dono. Kuwata Leon-dono...”

He raised two fists and thrust out his belly.

“... I will be performing 'Connect' by Claris.”

In preparation of what was to come, Hifumi took a deep breath that caused his body to shudder like jelly on a plate. Feeling like he witnessed something that should have been confined to one’s bedroom in the middle of the night, Leon selected the song that Hifumi requested.

The singing started almost right away, over the patter of piano keys.

“I won't forget the promise we made. I close my eyes and make sure of it,” Hifumi announced into the microphone. “Shaking off the darkness that has closed in on me, I move on.”

More instruments rushed in, giving the music a pop feel. Guitar. Drums. Possibly a tambourine. During the interlude that followed the introduction, Hifumi stomped his feet. Leon thought this might have been Hifumi dancing, but Leon couldn’t be too sure. Unsurprisingly, this song was the opening to an anime. A popular one at that.

“How long will it be before I can see my lost future again here?” sang Hifumi, bouncing in his seat.

Leon slouched as Hifumi, never losing his fervour, continued singing. The anime this was the opening for wasn’t one that Leon had seen, but Leon had seen merchandise and could recognise the characters. Its art style didn’t appeal to Leon even after Hifumi had claimed that the show got darker in tone after the first few episodes. Too cutesy.

Across from the boys, Sayaka muttered something into Mukuro’s ear. Her blue hair hung over her mouth, so Leon couldn’t even attempt to lipread. He sat up straighter and squinted in their direction. Sayaka pulled back. Mukuro replied with a few syllables and both girls faced forward again. For a moment, Leon thought they were looking at him, but they didn’t avert their gaze when Leon peered over at them.

On further inspection, they weren’t focused on him but on something off to the side of him. No, not something, but someone. When the girls directed their attention elsewhere, he glanced to his left and saw Makoto suddenly start to busy himself with a can of drink.

“Oi, Naegi,” said Leon, and he reached behind Byakuya so he could tap Makoto’s shoulder. Hifumi’s singing and the speakers provided ideal cover for their conversation.

“What is it?” asked Makoto.

“What’s up with you and Ikusaba and Maizono?” said Leon, withdrawing his arm to Byakuya’s approval. And Leon’s. Wouldn’t want anyone to think they were hugging.

Makoto didn’t answer right away.

Hifumi raised an arm, oblivious to all other conversations. “My friends were there when I looked back! They gave me a warm hug if they noticed!”

“What do you mean?” asked Makoto.

Leon set his elbow onto his lap, pressed his cheek against a fist and leaned into it. “Haven’t you noticed? They’ve been staring at you.”

“They have?” repeated Makoto like he hadn’t realised.

“What’s your secret?” asked Leon like he didn’t really care if Makoto told him or not.

“I... don’t have one?”

“Don’t be modest,” said Leon with a sharp edge to his tone. “So what, do you do stuff for them?”

“S-Stuff? No! Never!”

“Wait... what? What stuff do you think I’m talking about?”

Byakuya, who had the honour of sitting between them, pinched the bridge of his nose. “Shut up the pair of you. You’re lucky I haven’t eaten recently.”

Said the person whose admirer ranked bottom two in the class. Talk about bitter. Like the herbivore guy that he was, Makoto did as told. Leon rolled his eyes at Makoto but let him off. Makoto was lucky that Byakuya was rich and Leon was smart enough to not tick off a person like that.

At the end of the song, which Hifumi concluded with a smirk, Sayaka said, “That was superb, Yamada-kun! I loved the song.”

“Y-You did?” Hifumi gave up on any attempts to seem cool as he rounded on her eagerly. “I didn’t expect a girl like you to be interested in anime! Especially one that deconstructs the magical girl genre like so!”

Touko snorted. “Are you for serious? That... filth... just reinforces gender roles and is torture porn for sleazy men... a-and what’s so revolutionary about punishing girls for desiring things?”

“So you do watch anime!” said Hifumi, pointing furiously at her in a complete turnaround in attitude. “What else is a lie about you, Fukawa Touko-dono? Your hair colour? Your -dere?”

She grabbed the top of her braids and tugged. “Shut up! I regret every minute of that trash! I was b-bored, all right? Leave me alone! Go suffocate yourself in the greasy lining of your crisps packet!”

The corners of Celes’s lips rose. “You’re awfully defensive, Fukawa-san. Might it be that Yamada-kun is onto something?”

A whine escaped Touko instead of an intelligible answer.

“Don’t rile her up,” said Byakuya with a barely restrained sigh. He fiddled with his glasses. “She makes enough noise as it is...”

Several people nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, Celes-san, you might feel comfortable to tease your friend like that in public, but Fukawa-san might not feel the same way,” said Sayaka, somewhat off the mark. She was cute, at least.

Sakura cleared her throat. Everyone turned their heads. “I would like the microphone, please. Kuwata, I will be singing ‘Best Friend’ by Kiroro.”

Leon found the song for her and played it.

For the first four seconds, the piano played quite fast, but it slowed to a leisurely pace when Sakura began to sing. “I don't have to worry anymore, because you will be by my side when I cry. You always smile at me.”

Aoi swayed from side to side on her spot, and Yasuhiro clapped in time with the music. Halfway through the first verse, Mondo, Sayaka and Chihiro joined him, and the gentle beat of a drum followed Sakura’s gruff yet strangely soothing voice. Sandpaper did make surfaces smooth, after all.

“Faces that are always being looked at, forever hugging each other. Your smile has helped me endlessly, you know...” Sakura closed her eyes. “Thank you, thank you. Best Friend.”

The drumming took a break, as did Sakura, but both returned for the next verse. It was a surprisingly soft song for a woman so muscular, so scarred and so big. Her singing wasn’t as refined as Celes’s, or professional like Sayaka’s, and she didn’t ham it up like Hifumi and Yasuhiro had, intentionally or not. Leon didn’t care for the song, or the piano-y style, but he could admit that a sentimental person would eat this kind of performance up.

After the second verse, ending in thanks for a best friend in the same way as its predecessor, a guitar strummed. Leon thought he recognised a harp, but he wasn’t certain. He wanted to become a singer, which had little to do with instruments, so he didn’t worry himself over not knowing. Aoi was maybe even less interested in the instruments than him, enraptured by Sakura, more so than usual.

“This happiness that I felt at this moment. All the friends that I have here, you the best, are present. I am blessed because you will always be by our side.”

When the song came to an end, not even the likes of Byakuya, Touko, Junko and Celes had anything negative to say. Some silence passed, and those four faded into the background as everyone else sprung out of their trances and Aoi grabbed Sakura’s hands and shook them.

“I wasn’t expecting that,” admitted Mondo, slightly pink.

“Me neither,” said Yasuhiro. “Ogre - Oogami-chi has a maiden’s heart after all...”

Kiyotaka allowed his tears to fall shamelessly. “Oogami-kun... thank you.”

“Are you crying?” asked Junko, snickering.

Mukuro sniffled.

Junko whipped her head around and leered. “Seriously?”

Sayaka got out a tissue from... somewhere - Leon hadn’t been paying attention, and dabbed at her eyes. “That was beautiful, Oogami-san.”

“Yeah!” Aoi burst out. “You... You were lovely, Sakura-chan!”

Sakura had a faint blush. “Thank you, Asahina. Thank you, everyone...”

All eyes stayed on her. Acutely aware of this, Sakura held out the microphone toward the table, at no one in particular.

“Who wishes to sing next?” asked Sakura.

No one volunteered, so Leon lifted a hand and said, “Maizono should go again!”

Sayaka frowned a bit. “I don’t want to hog the karaoke...”

“Go on!” said Junko. She reached her arm behind Mukuro’s back and shook Sayaka’s shoulder. “Naegi-kun didn’t get to hear you sing!”

“That’s true,” said Sayaka, and she sat up straighter. “All right then.”

Sakura passed her the microphone.

Touko glared down the couch at the other girls. “Me and Byakuya-sama didn’t get to hear it either, you know!”

Celes raised her eyebrows. “I was going to ask, actually. Did you three arrive together? It’s quite a funny trio.”

“You just have a terrible sense of humour,” countered Byakuya.

“We did arrive together,” said Makoto. He didn’t notice the cold look that Byakuya sent him. “I found Togami-kun in the library, and Fukawa-san tagged along.”

“You tagged along, not me!” Touko hissed. “Y-You interrupted my time with Byakuya-sama...”

“My time had nothing to do with yours. You were just loitering nearby,” corrected Byakuya.

“Why were you in the library instead of on your way here?” asked Kyouko.

Byakuya didn’t look at anyone and simply said, “I forgot.”

“What?” Kiyotaka’s eyes bulged. “But... we all agreed to come!”

“Yes, and I forgot,” stated Byakuya. “I must have subconsciously stored it in my short term memory.”

Aghast, Kiyotaka opened his mouth, but Sayaka spoke next.

“Okay, I’ve decided what I want to sing,” said Sayaka with good timing, brow furrowed. “I would like to sing ‘I Want to Steal Only You’ by DEEN.”

Leon obtained the song for her. Kiyotaka was still staring at Byakuya, whose eyes were trained on the screen opposite them. Mondo gave Kiyotaka’s shoulder a light pull and Kiyotaka relaxed into his seat.

Right off the bat, percussion and guitar bellowed in a grand manner, as if fanfare. Sayaka flitted to her feet and waited for her cue to sing, ignoring all else around her. Roughly twenty seconds in, the music petered out, to be replaced with a lone piano that weaved with her angelic voice.

“When I grew tired of partying in the quiet, still street, this loneliness that I thought I’d forgotten about knocked on the door of my heart,” sang Sayaka.

Goosebumps spread across Leon’s skin and he gave a shudder. Everyone listened, equally hushed. Sayaka undoubtedly knew the lyrics already, even though she faced the screen. She didn’t seem to be reading the words that appeared in front of her. Rather, they just so happened to be there.

“My reflection in your eyes blurred.” Perhaps it was due to some trick of the light, but Leon thought her eyes glazed over. “And I knew our love was fading.”

Sayaka was really immersing herself in the song. From someone as famous as her, who performed as much as she did from such a young age, this was to be expected, but nonetheless, the performance was eery, and the humming from the track that accompanied her after that line enhanced the mood.

“I want to believe forever because I love you so much, it makes my heart tremble...”

The instruments from the very beginning of the piece returned, and a howl sounded over the vocalless segment before Sayaka sang the next verse. This time, the instruments didn’t subside, but trooped along with her voice in techno-epic glory, though it did level out so not to outshine her, if that could even be possible.

“That blue umbrella brings back memories. I met you in the bustle of the street. The grass we walked on, looking down at it, is still the same as it was that day.”

Leon wondered if she could adapt to any song. She had to teach him her secrets, so he could draw in crowds like she did.

“I want to carry you away like this. Before the morning light eventually comes and then we’ll fulfil the dream we had that day, while our eyes still show our feelings...”

Sayaka lifted her chin.  
  
“I want to believe forever,” she sang, “because I love you so much, it makes my heart tremble.”

She hung onto the last word and lowered her chin as the guitar took its last moments. The screens on the walls showed the menu again, with its list of songs sorted by the most popular first, but the only song that occupied the minds of those in the room was the one they just heard. Just experienced.

First to break out of their trance was Makoto. “Maizono-san...”

What he said, though short, proved enough to free the others.

At this rate, Kiyotaka would shrivel up with how much crying he had been doing lately. His face quivered and he tried to say something, but he just came out with a weird choking noise. Mondo massaged his friend’s shoulder.

“... What I expected from someone recruited by Hope’s Peak,” conceded Byakuya. His eyes couldn’t be seen due to the glare on the lenses.

“Thank you,” said Sayaka.

“I could totally listen to this while a student council killed each other,” remarked Junko.

“... Thank you?” said Sayaka.

“I’m sure Enoshima-san means it as a compliment,” said Makoto, but no one could be certain of what Junko truly meant. She was odd, but probably harmless. Ditzy teenagers always said weird things, and sometimes tried to be random or edgy. Leon thought little of it.

Mukuro nodded. Sayaka relaxed and nodded back.

“This was different to your usual music,” commented Kyouko. “The lyrics were bittersweet.”

“Well, I listen to a lot of different kinds of music,” explained Sayaka. “It’s like how an artist should study anatomy so they can make their own style, but with the foundation, they can imitate other styles too...”

Hifumi perked up at the mention of artists. “An idol isn’t so different to an artist... is that what you’re saying?”

“Maizono’s not anything like you,” jeered Leon. “She’s not a gross pervert pig for one thing.”

“Kirigiri-san, do you listen to my music?” asked Sayaka, ignoring the two guys. “I’m sorry if I’m being presumptuous...”

Kyouko shrugged. “It’s... pleasant to listen to, when it comes up on the radio.”

Sayaka accepted this as an answer. “What sort of songs do you like?”

Before Kyouko could answer, Sayaka proffered the microphone. Kyouko blinked, but then smirked and took it from her.

“You will find out. 'Shinjuku's woman'. Keiko Fuji,” said Kyouko. She pierced Leon with her gaze. “Kuwata-kun.”

Leon flinched before realising what she wanted from him.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, saluting. He searched for the song. It was from 1969. According to the genre label, enka, the song was a ballad, and the kind of thing that a singer typically wore a kimono when they sang. Not a blouse, skirt and denim jacket.

Like many of the pieces preceding it, this one had a slow tempo, but it didn’t have a piano. Low twanging backed up a shrill saxophone, alternating with a guitar strumming, combined in a jazzy style. Kyouko sat unnaturally still, not moving until she was due to sing, opening her eyes and lifting her head.

During the vocal segments, the saxophone didn’t play.

“Even if I could transform myself to a man, I would stick to being a woman,” said Kyouko, voice soft and low, a whisper amplified by the microphone.

A violin trilled and something jingled sporadically for a few notes at a time. Occasionally, there was the scrape of wood. At the edge of Leon’s vision, Chihiro squirmed. Mondo noticed and gave a lopsided smile as he ruffled Chihiro’s hair, coaxing a small smile from Chihiro that disappeared in seconds, as soon as Mondo removed his hand and turned to one of the screens.

“For a butterfly who lives in a town of neon lights.... Those words were too sweet to resist.”

The instruments paused for a second, then stuttered with her next words.

“What a fool... What a fool I am...”

Then the instruments resumed their leisurely, even pace. Leon’s eyelids drooped as the guitar’s thrum lulled him.

“... To be tricked like that. This night is too chilly. I'm a woman of Shinjuku...”

She released the last word gradually, after which the saxophone wailed. Mondo started clicking his fingers and Yasuhiro soon copied, nodding along.

As Kyouko sang her way through the second verse, Leon sank into his seat. His eyes grew heavier. He meant no offence to the song, or Kyouko, but the way the music plodded along and how the instruments worked together could easily make someone fall asleep.

Not that he would. That would be embarrassing.

Leon caught ‘How many times did I cry over you?’ and learned that the verse had the same last four lines as the first verse, as Kyouko reprimanded herself on being a fool. He listened more to the sound of her voice than to the words.

“Even you are the guy who just threw me away like a beer tap,” lamented Kyouko. “What a fool... What a fool I am...”

When she finished her part in the song, the saxophone gave its last call before the music faded out completely and the screens reverted to show the menu.

“So...” Junko quirked her brow and propped her arm along the top edge of her seat. “You just like the song, or are you trying to tell us something?”

“You may be reading into things that are not necessarily there,” Kyouko informed her, cheeks telltale pink. “I like the song... that’s all.”

“What can I say? I love analysing things,” said Junko. She pressed the pads of her index fingers together and wiggled her shoulders. “Like, how else will I know what clothes are In and which clothes are Out? I could like, totally give Esme Squalor a run for her money. That’s a kind of analysing, right?”

“Typical idiotic bimbo,” muttered Touko.

Junko stuck out her tongue and rapped the knuckles of one hand against her own head.

“What sort of songs do you like, Fukawa-san?” asked Sayaka.

Touko twitched. Remaining tense, she eyed Sayaka cautiously. “N-Nothing that you’d care about... Definitely not any of your pop garbage.”

Makoto looked as offended as Leon felt. Sayaka’s expression didn’t even flicker.

“Do you listen to anything while you write?” asked Sayaka calmly, looking Touko right in the eyes.

“No! Of c-course not. It would be too distracting... Lyrics would just fill my brain with words that would lie around and rot. I n-need a clear mind so I can generate my own prose and not have some drivel written by someone else rattling around in there instead.” Touko shook her head, teeth gritted. Leon almost felt concerned for her well-being. She better not vomit on the floor. That would really stink up the place and most likely cut the event short. “I only listen to instrumental stuff to get into an appropriate mood... and d-don’t think you’ll get anything else out of me. You’re just going to insult my answers.”

“To be honest,” said Junko, “I zoned out five minutes ago. What did you say, Fukawa-san?”

“It’s just like I said!” Touko hissed, waving her arms. “W-Words just go in one of your ears and float unobstructed out of the other, don’t they?”

Junko pulled a Cheshire Cat smile and poorly hid it behind her hand. Her shoulders shook in a silent laugh.

Mondo rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, if you just listen to stuff with no words, then you can’t sing unless you pretend to be a guitar or something...”

The suggestion brought on a glare from her.

“C’mon, Fukawa-chi, you must know the words of one song,” said Yasuhiro.

“I never said I was going to sing, idiot!” Touko snarled, turning her glare on him now.

Yasuhiro cowered in his seat.

“Aw, but I bet you’d sound lovely, Fukawa-chan,” Aoi piped up with a pout.

Touko cringed. “W-What? Even after you sang like you did to that brute... you’re coming onto me?”

“What did you say?” asked Aoi sharply, friendliness melting away fast but not at the accusation. At what she called Sakura. Though the accusation certainly played a part in the colour that spread across Aoi’s face.

Before a confrontation could occur, someone spoke up.

“You must know at least one song,” said Byakuya to everyone’s surprise. “Admit it and then sing it to all of us.”

All eyes fell on him. Touko’s lips moved but didn’t produce any noise for a few moments. Her brain was still processing what he said.

She adjusted her glasses. “You... want me to sing?”

“Don’t read into it,” he replied. He mimicked the movement with his own glasses. “It would just be less annoying if you spoke a set piece of text rather than utter whatever nonsense pops into your head.”

Touko fidgeted her hands and then locked them into fists. “I just remembered a song.”

Aoi tilted her head to one side and looked off to the side. “That was fast.”

“I thought you only listened to instrumental pieces,” commented Kyouko.

“I said I just remembered a song!” Touko sneered. She hesitated, reining back her annoyance. In a dull voice, she said, “You.”

Because Leon wasn’t looking at her, he didn’t realise Touko had turned her attention to him until she spoke again.

“Kuwata!”

His eyes flicked over to her.

“Huh?” he said indifferently.

“Nanase A-Aikawa,” Touko said. “The t-title... ‘I Don't Want To Be That Kind Of Girl Who Dreams’...”

“Yeah? What about it?”

She growled.

“I’m going to sing it!” she explained through her teeth. “Put it on!”

Leon’s eyebrows shot up, his breathing suspended for a second. Quickly, he smoothed out his features and put on the song. He had expected her to suggest a slow song, maybe with just a piano or a whining violin.

Not a rock song. Not that he could or would complain.

An electric guitar rasped then an explosion of drum beats followed, and in the pandemonium, a bass guitar thrummed too. One time, Leon attended a concert where Nanase Aikawa performed this live. Tickets sold out fast and he was only able to go because his cousin, Kanon, acquired tickets to it and invited him.

“At the crossing at midnight, depression combined with a slight fever. You don’t feel the same as I do.” When singing, her voice lost some of the gravelly quality it usually carried. Her voice was surprisingly light, and even as it gained strength, it didn’t become harsh. Granted, it cracked as she tried to raise her voice into almost a shout like in the original, but Touko persevered and the rawness added to her singing. “I want to pass through the door of the night and get to tomorrow. I don’t want things like promises.”

She lacked the stage presence of Nanase, who jigged to the music as she sang, who straddled and carried around a microphone stand. In this room in a karaoke restaurant, Touko sat with shoulders hunched over.

However, she didn’t stutter. That was of note.

“I don’t hate your profile as you drive the car. Shut up for a bit. I want to be able to open my heart at some point... Open the window. All through the town. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Touko stood up abruptly, attention on nothing else but the screen opposite her as she sang the lyrics that she read off it. She swayed slightly but didn’t show signs of being about to faint, so no one reached out their hands in preparation to catch her.

Leon peeked at Byakuya, whose expression was unreadable. More than once, Byakuya glanced at Touko, trying to concentrate on the lyrics to limited success. Byakuya seemed aware of this and frowned to himself, cupping his chin.

“I want you to hold me on the harsher nights. No, no; that won’t reach me. I want to lose myself in a wonderful lie. No, no; that’s not enough. Even now, in the mirror, I can see myself as I was that day, trembling. I can’t stay a dreamer.”

It was kind of jarring, watching this song be sung by a skinny girl with messy braids, a long skirt, a blouse and large glasses that a cartoon owl might wear, and judging by the wide eyes and agape mouths around them, Leon wasn’t the only one who thought this. People either blinked a lot or rarely did at all. She lacked the dyed hair, the white jacket, the small tie with a Union Jack, tights and leather boots that Leon remembered seeing on Nanase Aikawa, but then again, Touko’s discordance created as big a statement as punks did, so she pulled it off somehow.

The music didn’t vary much during the piece. Certainly not to the extent that some of the previous songs had, with different instruments cropping up in those. Touko sang more, but didn’t sing anything new. After the final line, a second “I can’t stay a dreamer,” the percussion and guitars continued on, climbing until they plummeted, ending the song.

Panting, Touko slumped back into her seat, and the microphone slipped out of her sweaty palms.

“Let me guess,” Junko said. “You just like the song too.”

“I didn’t see that coming,” said Mondo. “Holy sh-”

“- it was unexpected,” announced Kiyotaka. “Fukawa-kun, I hope this doesn’t mean you take part in delinquent behaviour!”

“She just sang a song,” said Mondo. “It doesn’t mean she’s going to go around killing people.”

Byakuya narrowed his eyes at Touko but didn’t say anything. Touko squeezed her hands together and bent her head forward, microphone now on her lap.

“... Not bad,” Byakuya conceded.

Her head snapped up. “Pardon?”

He stopped looking at her. “I said that you didn’t sing too badly. I wouldn’t change the station right away if I heard it on the radio.”

“You....?” Touko stooped her head again, breathing loudly, and muttered his words to herself several times.

No one knew what to do. She swallowed and stopped talking. When no one said anything still, she tore her eyes away from her lap and burned the room with her glare.

“W-What?” Touko asked. “If you’re going to laugh, get it out of the way already! B-Byakuya-sama already complimented me, so if your common taste can’t appreciate my talent...! I don’t give a damn! Laugh away!”

“We’re not going to laugh. You were great,” said Makoto.

Touko pointed at him. “I can detect your sarcasm! Go on! You go next!”

He stiffened. “M-Me?”

“Yes!” she insisted, jabbing at the air and giving off so much embarrassment that Leon caught it second-hand. “L-Let’s see how you fair up, Naegi...”

“I don’t know...” He scratched his chin.

“Just get on with it,” said Byakuya.

“... Eh?” Touko’s anger dried up and covered her in a crust that she could barely move in. “You want... Naegi to sing?”

“Anyone will do,” said Byakuya. “Even you again, if it’ll give you less annoying things to talk about.”

“Fukawa-kun needs to rest her voice, so Naegi-kun will sing!” declared Kiyotaka.

Makoto raised a finger weakly. “I don’t...”

“I nominate Naegi too!” Aoi said, and Sayaka and Yasuhiro nodded.

He sighed but didn’t seem angry. Resigned was the word. “All right.”

His hand came forward to grab a microphone off the table, but the one that Touko possessed was tossed over to him. It would have smacked into his head had Leon not caught it with his professional baseball player reflexes. Leon dropped it and Makoto tried to catch it, juggling it, but the microphone ended up falling onto the floor. Makoto ducked down to pick it up.

Byakuya seethed as Leon pulled his arm back. “That could have hit me.”

“I-Ikusaba threw it, not me!” Touko said.

“You were taking too long,” Junko justified. Mukuro must have thrown it on her instruction. “So what are you going to sing, Naegi-kun?”

“Fukawa-san’s song reminded me of something, so I thought I’d sing that,” said Makoto. “‘The Brilliant Green’, please.”

Leon recognised it to be another rock song and set it to play. It wasn’t as fast-paced as the one that backed up Touko’s singing, and Makoto didn’t try to project his voice as much as Touko did, but that didn’t make it any worse, necessarily.

“We loved each other so much it hurt. Before we noticed, dreams turned into despair,” Makoto sang huskily, and Leon would even go as far as to say that Makoto sounded kind of cool. Leon screwed a finger into his ear to unclog it of any earwax. No way could that be Makoto singing. “The piercing light, the drafty wind... hurt my wet cheeks like it's trying to sink in.”

Seriously, Makoto didn’t normally sound like that. This must have been his secret weapon. Leon’s stomach hardened as he checked on the girls. All of them were looking at Makoto. Like, fair enough, because Makoto was singing, and Touko was able to somewhat resist his power and watch the screen above him at parts, but the smiles on the faces of the other girls spoke louder than a microphone could make someone speak.

When Makoto finished, Leon would have to sing next. Had to. Before they were too far past being saved.

“So, Togami...” Leon nudged Byakuya. “Anyone catch your eye?”

Byakuya didn’t glance at him, but he did go, “Hm?”

Leon barely heard him over the music. “You know, to marry?”

You know, the reason why Byakuya agreed to come here in the first place?

“This activity isn’t one that showcases everyone’s potential,” Byakuya pointed out. “There are many other tasks that would give me a better idea of who would give me the heir that should one day take over the conglomerate.”

It really was best not to think too hard about the strange, strange world that Byakuya came from.

“So why’d you come then?” asked Leon, but he wasn’t complaining. Byakuya did pay for the session and drinks, after all.

“I wished to experience a karaoke session,” explained Byakuya. “I’ve never been to one before, and thought that I may as well... for curiosity’s sake.”

He picked up a can of not beer, poured it into an empty glass and then turned his head away as he drank. After the first gulp, he shuddered, and Leon thought he was going to spit the drink out, but Byakuya powered through it.

Getting the message, Leon directed his attention to Yasuhiro, who grabbed himself a can and drank straight out of it.

“The sun will come up again.” This was Makoto, not Yasuhiro, by the way. “In this sky, even if I feel something keenly. Memories and things I speak of sadly... what help will they be?”

“You guys enjoying yourself?” said Leon, not just to Yasuhiro but Kiyotaka and Mondo as well, who were sat on Yasuhiro’s other side. Chihiro, cradling a can, looked over at Leon and listened in.

“S’all right,” said Mondo.

Leon smirked. “Any girls take your fancy?”

In the background, Makoto started to sing in English. “I'm feeling myself again. I'm feeling better now.”

Then he sang a line in Japanese.

“I want to break it carefully.”

He then sang the same English lines as before, following them up with,

“Like kicking a cold flower.”

If memory served Leon right, the song got repetitive after this point, so Leon let Makoto fade out of his perception. Leon tapped his finger impatiently against his leg. Receiving no answer to his previous question, he decided to ask again.

“Well? What about you, Ishimaru? Which girl do you think is hot?”

Kiyotaka pursed his lips and said, “I am here to strengthen my bonds with my friends, Kuwata-kun, not to court anyone.”

“C’mon, don’t be lame,” said Leon. “You must like one of the girls.”

“I like all of my female classmates,” Kiyotaka replied.

“In a dating way, I mean.” Before Kiyotaka could correct him, Leon added, “A hypothetical dating way.”

Kiyotaka’s objection died in his throat. He slowly shifted his attention onto the girls, as if apprehensive. As if he had never actually considered any of the girls in a hypothetical dating way until Leon prompted him to. Mondo peered over at the girls too, appearing almost bored.

“I suppose... Maizono-kun would be a good girlfriend,” said Kiyotaka. “She is hardworking.”

“Anyone else?” asked Leon quickly.

“... Asahina-kun?” Kiyotaka guessed. “Or... Fujisaki-kun?”

The guy had little to no self-awareness. Unfortunately for him, Chihiro, though listening in, hadn’t contributed to the conversation and so dropped off not only Leon’s radar but the other guys’ too, and they were reminded of Chihiro’s existence when Chihiro went, “Um...?”

“Fujisaki-kun!” Kiyotaka, who hadn’t realised that Chihiro was listening in, yelped, going as red as Chihiro, and he chose one of the worst times to cry out - the song had just ended, and so everyone turned toward the source of the strange noise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Celes: http://japanese-lesson.com/resources/karaoke/a_thousand_winds.html  
> Hagakure: http://evangelion.wikia.com/wiki/A_Cruel_Angel's_Thesis  
> Yamada: http://japanese-lesson.com/resources/karaoke/connect.html  
> Sakura: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/k/kiroro/best_friend_english.html  
> Sayaka: http://www.kiwi-musume.com/lyrics/deen/konomamakimidakewoubaisaritai.htm  
> Kirigiri: http://www.natsumelo.com/2011/11/keiko-fuji-shinjuku-no-onna-1969/  
> Fukawa: http://www.project-imas.com/wiki/Yumemiru_Shoujo_Ja_Irarenai  
> Naegi: http://www.nt2099.com/KARAOKE/tsumetai.txt


	3. Chapter 3

For a while, the only movement came from the screens on the walls, displaying the menu, where the border surrounding the song at the top of the list cycled through different hues. Leon didn’t know whether that classified as movement because the screen itself didn’t move around on the wall or anything, but in his vision, only that changed. Even Junko, who had her hand embedded in a packet of crisps, became motionless. 

Beads of sweat peppered Kiyotaka’s forehead. He pulled out a handkerchief from his jacket and mopped at his brow.

“Is something wrong with Fujisaki-san?” asked Celes, fighting down a smile.

“Did he touch you?” Aoi asked Chihiro sharply.

“Um,” went Chihiro, whose hesitation really didn’t help Kiyotaka.

Sakura cracked her knuckles. Kiyotaka’s mouth twitched wordlessly. 

Mondo twisted his body toward the girls, ready to act as a shield, and said, “Kyoudai was just saying that Fujisaki should go next. He, uh, thinks that we might not fit everyone in if we don’t stick to his schedule.”

“T-That’s-!” went Kiyotaka, trailing off.

Chihiro nodded, hands wringing together. “Y-Yeah... That’s what this is about, but I’m not sure...”

“You don’t have to sing if you don’t want to,” Makoto assured Chihiro, who gave him a small but grateful smile. 

No less susceptible to the charm of Chihiro than the regular person, Makoto coloured a bit at the sight before him and smiled wider. His title of Good luck started to make sense to Leon. To be fortunate enough to see Chihiro’s cute expression in frontal view... that had to be a result of Makoto’s luck.

“It’s... fine,” Chihiro said, sounding like that decision was made halfway through the sentence as it was being spoken. The additional chin scratching added to this impression of uncertainty. “Um... If it’s okay, I would like to go a little later? I need to think of what song I should sing. Sorry...”

Leon flapped a hand. “Yeah, cool, sure. Take your time choosing.” 

He surveyed the room and after everyone received a brief look, his eyes leaped over to Sayaka, who was frowning Chihiro at frown. If he didn’t act soon, he would lose her to Makoto or heck, even Kiyotaka, and there could be no better way to grab her attention at this current time than to serenade her. An idol such as herself would surely appreciate a high quality performance and the person responsible for it.

“Hey, Maizono-chan, you can sing in English, can’t you?” Leon asked. “Must be real tough.”

Therefore, if he could sing in that language, she would be doubly impressed.

Sayaka’s eyes flitted over to him. “I can indeed. Some of my songs have English lyrics in them, and I used to sing along to Disney films when I was younger.”

Disney wasn’t the most punk rock conglomerate that Leon knew, or punk rock at all except maybe compared to the Togami Conglomerate, but Leon had watched a few movies by them. Disney, not the Togami Conglomerate. A lot of his favourite bands originated from countries that spoke English, so along with listening to some of their tracks and googling lyrics, he had watched subtitled Disney movies. Always with his cousin or a girl from school. Some scenes were okay, but the songs usually weren’t his style. Especially the cheesy love duets...

An even better idea occurred to him. He clicked his fingers before pointing at Sayaka. “You know Aladdin?”

“It’s one of my favourites,” she replied.

“Awesome! How about you and me sing ’A Whole New World’?”

Though she had already sang twice, no one could object to another performance from Sayaka. Not even Touko, who pursed her lips together but said nothing. However, Sayaka averted her eyes and said, “Maybe someone who hasn’t sang yet should go instead of me...?”

“No one else here is an idol,” Leon pointed out. “We could listen to your voice all day. Besides, no one minds, do they?”

Several people shook their heads and no one voiced disagreement.

Sayaka shrugged and said, “Then sure!”

Leon’s heart skipped a beat but keeping cool, he searched for the song with the remote and clicked on the play button. Makoto passed him his microphone, while Sayaka quickly took one off the table and sat down again.

After the introduction of the piece rolled out in all of its whimsical entirety, Leon slowly sang, “I can show you the world. Shining, shimmering, splendid... Tell me, princess, now when did you last let your heart decide?”

If only he had a flower to present to her. That would have been suave of him. Sayaka smiled politely, waiting for her cue.

“I can open your eyes...” Leon let his gaze stray away from her. “Take you wonder by wonder. Over, sideways and under on a magic carpet ride. A whole new world...”

.He looked at Sayaka again.

“A new fantastic point of view. No one to tell us no, or where to go. Or say we’re only dreaming...”

Sayaka straightened up and sang her part, voice as beautiful as ever. “A whole new world... 

A dazzling place I never knew. But when I’m way up here, it’s crystal clear, that now I’m in a whole new world with you.”

Leon echoed Sayaka’s last line and as she sang the next verse, he noticed that Mukuro had folded her arms over her chest and thrust out her bottom lip childishly. He frowned, wondering if when he caught Mukuro and Sayaka seemingly gossiping together earlier, they had been discussing Makoto or something else. More specifically, someone else.

Only two people could make Mukuro smile, and they were her sister and Makoto. Mukuro’s smiles were almost as rare as Byakuya’s. Up until now, Leon had assumed that Mukuro had feelings for Makoto, but could that have been a front? A front to her true feelings? Seeing Mukuro’s reaction to him and Sayaka singing a love duet, there could be but one explanation.

In reality, Mukuro had feelings for Leon.

Sweet.

Sayaka sang, “A whole new world...”

“Don’t you dare close your eyes,” Leon responded while she held the last note, remembering to sing at the last moment. He would have to ponder this later. 

For the next part, he started singing before she finished her line.

Her eyes gleamed. “A hundred thousand things to see.”

“Hold your breath, it gets better...”

Sayaka projected her voice. “I’m like a shooting star. I’ve come so far... I can’t go back to where I used to be.”

Leon could imagine them on a stage together. After he got a leg-up from association with Sayaka and from attending at Hope’s Peak, he could kickstart his music career and they could totally collaborate, him and her. If they were on a stage right now, where they could walk up to each other and finish the song in close proximity, the duet would have been even more awesome, but as it was, they were in a karaoke room and their last exchange in the song had them still sitting on different lengths of couch with a table between them.

“A thrilling chase...” Leon sang.

She lifted her chin. “A wondrous place...”

Then together, looking into each other’s eyes, they sang,

“For you and me...”

The music petered out but before it finished completely, Junko spluttered and gave a snort.

Like many of the others present, Kiyotaka frowned at her. He waited a few more seconds for the menu to reappear on the screens before he asked, “Enoshima-kun, why did you laugh...?”

“Kuwata was just so earnest as he sang that,” explained Junko, if one could call that explaining. Leon and Sayaka exchanged confused looks. Junko let out a giggle and wiped a tear from her eye. “So, who’s going to top that? Fujisaki-san?”

Chihiro jumped a bit and bought a hand up to mouth level. “Sorry, I still haven’t thought of a song yet. Please forgive me. I’ll keep thinking...”

“Okay, so who hasn’t sang yet?” asked Junko. She looked around. “Togami-kun?”

Byakuya scowled. “I don’t plan to sing... I’m just here to observe.”

“What, are you shy?”

He threw her a dirty look.

“Oi! W-Who do you think you are?” asked Touko.

“According to my dialogue tags, I’m ‘Junko’,” Junko replied.

“Deluded! You’re deluded!” Touko hissed, thrusting out her chin. Some spit sprayed out of her mouth. “T-That’s why you think you can bother Byakuya-sama!”

Byakuya folded his arms over his chest, more than happy to let Touko carry on the conversation for him. Sayaka, still clasping a microphone, angled her body away from Touko and cupped the head of the microphone.

Junko raised an arm and positioned it horizontally across her chest. “Hey! You don’t need to like, be so hostile, ya know!”

Makoto motioned toward Mukuro. “If Togami-kun and Fujisaki-san don’t want to sing yet, what about Ikusaba-san?”

Byakuya glared at him. “Clean your ears out. I didn’t say I was going to sing later...”

“Anyway, Big Sis Mukuro already sang,” said Junko with a shrug. 

Mukuro nodded meekly, eyes down.

“Oh...” Makoto faltered. “I must have missed it.”

“Yep, you did.That’s what you get for being late. Unless...” Junko widened her eyes for a moment, smirking. “... you want her to sing again?”

Makoto waved his hands. “Ah, it’s fine! If Ikusaba-san doesn’t want to sing again, it’s okay.”

He scratched his cheek.

“But I must admit, I’m slightly disappointed that I missed it,” he added.

Mukuro jerked her head up.

“I can sing again!” blurted Mukuro, flushing. “I... I even have a song that I could sing! For Na-! N... No one in particular!”

She must have realised that Leon was onto her because that was one of the greatest double bluffs that Leon ever heard. He didn’t know if he would date Mukuro, if she gathered the courage to ask him out. Like, he wanted to keep his options open, and Mukuro’s stern face creeped him out, but then again, she had been more expressive than usual during this event, so he decided not to rule her out completely.

Kiyotaka nodded. “I don’t see any issue with this. Togami-kun and Fujisaki-kun haven’t yet decided on what to sing, so Ikusaba-kun could sing.”

He broke into a smile.

“Besides, she sings quite beautifully, and it is a shame that some of you missed out on it,” he added, and he flicked out his wrists.

Mukuro’s lips quivered. Junko slapped her on the back and laughed.

“I told you, I’m not singing,” said Byakuya, but he may as well have just thought this what with the lack of acknowledgement that he received.

“What about you, Ishimaru-kun?” asked Kyouko. “You and Oowada-kun haven’t sang yet either.”

“We’re going after everyone else,” said Mondo, motioning to himself with his thumb. “We’ve got a song and everything. Trust us, it’ll blow you away and shit.”

Kiyotaka frowned. “But also, I wish to make sure everyone else has sang first. I wouldn’t feel comfortable singing before then.”

“All right,” said Leon, not understanding the reasoning behind that but also not really caring either. He twitched his head. “What are you going to sing, Ikusaba?”

She straightened. “'Every Little Thing'. By Monochrome.”

Leon put it on for her. The recent choices had strayed away from the bittersweet songs supported by piano found toward the start of the session, and Mukuro did not take a step back to them with hers. An electronic keyboard, with electric guitar and drumming, gave the piece a techno feel. It had a rock music feel to it but at the same time, Leon could totally visualise the band wearing white, futuristic suits.

Sharp, metallic tapping sounds, made by someone jabbing the keys on the keyboard, preceded Mukuro’s first verse.

“The movie theater hasn’t changed from the old days. We went there for our first date.” In the song before, she had sang sweetly, but this song required her to edge onto a shout, something that Mukuro didn’t often do, and it showed. Her voice cracked a bit. “Now you’re not beside me, the monochrome is awfully lonely.”

She held on the microphone tighter.

“Love that’s full of manipulation only works in the movies.”

Several consecutive keys rang out like the person playing them dragged their hand across the keyboard. Junko, who had been reading the screen, glanced at her sister after that line. Mukuro must have sensed her sister’s gaze because she cringed like in pain, like Junko pricked her or impaled her with multiple spears, but she didn’t let her eyes wander from the screen. 

“Every time our lips touched, my heart beat faster. Everything made my heart flutter in those high school days.”

Leon couldn’t hear what Junko said, but he saw Junko’s lips move as she said something that Mukuro heard. Hands shaking, Mukuro broke eye contact with the screen. Seconds later, she forced herself to look at it again, unable to stop herself trembling. For a soldier who, according to rumours, some started by her sister, had killed people abroad, her behaviour was odd.

Makoto mouthed, “You’re doing great.”

“O-One of these days when we meet, I just want to say, straight up, like those lines. Just one thing.” Mukuro bit her lip and wheezed out, “I’m sorry.”

She pushed through the the next few verses, no less uncomfortable. When singing with Sayaka, she hadn’t shown this level of unease. Hell, even at the beginning of this song, she had appeared more relaxed. Whatever Junko told her must have caused the shift in demeanour. 

Junko leered at Mukuro, clearly not in approval of Mukuro’s choice of song. Leon looked over at Mondo, who shrugged his shoulders, as mystified as him. 

Makoto managed to catch Mukuro’s eye and gave her a thumbs up. Her lips twitched, and with slightly more steadiness to her voice, she continued.

“If only we could have trusted each other a little more, as we were, then I wouldn’t have had to watch you walk away.”

Mukuro’s lashes fluttered.

“Love that’s full of manipulation. Only works in the movies.”

Her eyes kept darting over to Makoto, who offered her an unwavering grin.

“Whenever I went to the place where we promised to meet, I was excited. We partied, forgetting about the sun going down.”

She narrowed her eyes, bright red. Not so much from embarrassment but in determination now.

“One of these days when we meet, I just want to say, straight up, like those lines. Just one thing. I’m sorry.”

The world took pity on her and the song ended.

When it did, no one said anything. Mukuro slouched forward and stared down at her feet, squeezing the microphone. Kyouko poured some drink into a glass, rose to her feet and shuffled over to get to Mukuro. In an attempt to draw Mukuro’s attention, Kyouko cleared her throat, but Mukuro refused to raise her head. Sayaka took the glass from Kyouko and positioned the glass in Mukuro’s vision.

“Do you think we could ask for the heating to be turned down?” asked Sayaka. She rubbed circles against Mukuro’s back. “It’s pretty hot in here.”

“Are you okay, Ikusaba-san?” asked Makoto even though Mukuro obviously wasn’t. He stood up.

“Y-Yeah.” Mukuro glugged down the whole contents of the glass and wiped the back of her hand across her mouth. She gasped and added, “I got too hot. That’s all.”

Even so, Sayaka continued rubbing Mukuro’s back. “Togami-kun’s next, isn’t he?”

Everyone started turning their attention away from Mukuro now.

Byakuya’s nostrils flared. “I said that...”

“... you weren’t going to sing,” finished Mondo. “Yeah, yeah. We heard, pretty boy. You’re too embarrassed by your voice, we got it.”

“So it’s Fujisaki-chan’s turn then, isn’t it?” asked Aoi.

Chihiro’s lip chewing stopped, but before Chihiro had the chance to respond, Byakuya adjusted his glasses and spoke up instead.

“I am not embarrassed,” snapped Byakuya.

Aoi quirked her brow at Mondo. “Did you just call him ’pretty boy’?”

“Togami-chi probably had better things to do than refine his singing voice,” defended Yasuhiro.

“There you all go, making assumptions like you usually do,” said Byakuya. He tilted his head forward slightly with a grimace and pushed up his glasses. “I see that you all will keep pestering me unless I humour you... Very well. I will perform a song.”

Leon rolled his eyes.

“Okay,” said Leon. “What song?”

Byakuya flapped a hand. “Just choose any. I am incredibly versatile.”

Several songs rushed through Leon’s head.

“I know the perfect song,” announced Celes, before Leon could suggest anything. She laced her hands together and rested her chin onto her fingers. “L’Arc~en~Ciel. 'Forbidden Lover'.”

The songs that Leon had been considering were mostly Disney or from popular anime, because he thought those would be funny to hear from Byakuya, but when Leon looked up and looked into Celes’s red eyes, he found himself unable to reject her proposal.

Without a word, Byakuya grabbed a microphone off the table and sat back, one leg crossed over the other. He didn’t complain, so that must have meant that he was fine with what Celes chose, and Leon would be hard pressed to deny that he wasn’t curious to know what Byakuya would do with the song that, as the title suggested, had sexual undertones.

Yasuhiro patted Leon’s shoulder. “H-Hey, Kuwata-chi.”

“What?” Leon located the song on the screen.

“Is that really how you pronounce tildes?”

Celes smirked.

“Dude. Shut up.” Leon clicked play.

For the first fifteen or so seconds, drums beat like the swift march of soldiers. Occasionally, cymbals clashed. Byakuya motionlessly waited for the lyrics to appear on the screen opposite him. 

An electric guitar wailed, and Byakuya sang not long after.

“Ah, I’m flowing into the dark frozen sea with the wave of history...” He sang with a drawl, voice loud but even. “Before long, the curtain will rise. I use an ephemeral dream to start a fire in controversy...”

Leon didn’t know why Byakuya had been so insistent on not singing - the guy didn’t sound bad. Granted, this part of the song didn’t give him much chance to show off the extent of his singing abilities, but Leon, who knew the song, knew that the song would require more effort later on. That would be the true test to confirm whether Byakuya could sing decently.

Byakuya increased his volume. “Someday the heart I lost sight of will repeat a sin it could forget.”

In an outburst of energy, the guitar picked up its tempo and then as if it tired itself out, it stopped, and what sounded like an organ rang out.

“That corrupted love that raises a mistake. The paradise that builds on debris...”

He uttered the next line in English, voice not as loud, dragging out the words.

“Forbidden lover...”

Leon shivered. The guitar resumed. Byakuya’s eyes flickered. 

“Ephemeral memory. Even though I hold it tightly,” Byakuya sounded almost like he moaned the next part, “the colors won’t mix.”

Never before had Byakuya come across as even a remotely sexual being, or one capable of pretending to be one. Across from Byakuya, Touko stared, clutching her heart. She alternated between breathing heavily and not breathing at all. Soon, drool began to trickle out of her mouth. Sayaka caught Leon staring and checked his target. Her brow furrowed and she pulled out a handkerchief from her jacket pocket, but she didn’t offer it to Touko.

“I am surrounded by a burning flame. My life is on the crumbling boat,” Byakuya called out. While Leon had been distracted, Byakuya had progressed to the next verse. There was a roar backing his voice, which didn’t shake. Which didn’t crack. A fire behind him would have suited the scene. “My scared eyes look up to the sky. I shout God’s name.”

Drums boomed like thunder. The guitar’s chords struck Leon’s eardrums.

Touko awoke from her stupor and swallowed. She licked around her mouth and swallowed again, but as she slowly fell back into her trance, more drool leaked out from her parted lips. Sayaka tucked her handkerchief back into her pocket and folded her hands on her lap. Leon felt a twinge of sympathy for Byakuya, but still. Better him than Leon.

“High in the sky, this heart dances. I was passing higher than a nightmare.”

Byakuya’s voice cracked.

“I let this thought loose to you.”

Byakuya’s voice was getting hoarse.

“I let the radiance go to the far off ground...”

His wide eyes relaxed. He sang the next line softer.

“Before long, will the day even come to the new world? When we are passing through the same road again?”

Panting slightly, he licked his lips.

“Forbidden... lover...”

And again... 

Leon felt a weird shiver.

And again...

“Forbidden... lover...”

And again...

The song ended. Byakuya’s features hardened and he put the microphone onto the table. He leaned back and stared into space.

Touko clasped her hands over her chest. “Y-You... sing so beautifully... ah... my goosebumps have goosebumps...”

Her hands moved as she hugged herself.

“Of course I do,” replied Byakuya. He crossed his arms over his chest.

“Honk... Honk,” she went in a goose impression. She licked her lips. “I-I need a shower.”

“That’s nothing new,” Byakuya deadpanned.

“I’m so sweaty...”

Yasuhiro clapped his hands. “All right, round of applause for Togami-chi over here!”

Makoto and Kiyotaka clapped a few times. Byakuya pulled a face. 

Wanting to quickly move on before Touko’s fantasy could take too weird a turn, Yasuhiro said, “Fujisaki-chi, did you come up with a song? You must have. Please say you did.”

Chihiro squirmed. “W-Well...”

Finger tapped against chin and Chihiro’s brow creased.

“I guess... I could sing 'All Along' by Every Little Thing...”

Kiyotaka flung his finger toward Leon. “Kuwata-kun, please put the song on!”

“B-But I’m not sure,” spluttered Chihiro. 

Leon hesitated, hovering the cursor over the magnifying glass icon.

Aoi rested a hand on Chihiro’s head and ruffled the hair there. “You’ll be fine, Fujisaki-chan!”

Chihiro didn’t argue back and accepted the microphone that Aoi passed over, sitting very still, so Leon brought up the song and clicked play. A lot of the songs before that started with a piano had been melancholy, but for this song, the piano was more upbeat, bouncing. It quickened at the ten second mark and was joined by the rumble of drums. 

“I s-sighed as I looked at my reflection in the show window,” sang Chihiro, voice only loud because of the microphone. There was no attempt to project Chihiro’s voice by Chihiro. “I wonder if someday, I’ll be distorted, just like this glass.”

After every line, a keyboard tinkled a few keys.

“I’m in a hurry and can’t even see what’s before my eyes. I gather my strength and,” the next word was prolonged but shaky, “walk.”

There was a short drum roll and the instruments resumed, playing brighter than before. It was the sort of song that would play while the credits rolled in a video game. Someone could easily sway their arms over their head to it. The positive mood didn’t seem to provide much confidence as Chihiro, the centre of attention now, continued to tremble.

“As I’m surrounded by warm voices, even my tears change to courage. Because everyone is so wonderful, I want to return from now on, always, thank you...”

Chihiro hesitated, missing the next line, but it was still sang, just by someone else.

“All along,” sang Aoi in English.

Aoi gave a warm smile and draped her arm over Chihiro’s shoulders. When the next verse began, she pulled on the microphone in Chihiro’s hand. She didn’t remove it from Chihiro’s hold but positioned it between them so she could sing into it as well.

By herself, Aoi sang, “Chasing my dreams, I only get too obsessed and impatient...”

From the next line onward, Chihiro sang too, bearings recollected and slightly more confident than before.

“The road I thought I chose now seems so far away. I was blown by a tail wind and going in circles, but there were always people there to help me...”

Chihiro and Aoi met each other’s eyes. The warmth of Aoi’s smile finally seeped into Chihiro and the confidence that she planted there surfaced as a smile that brightened Chihiro’s features.

It only wavered when another voice joined in - Sakura’s - but it wavered in surprise, and Chihiro and Aoi sang along still. “I was blown by a tail wind and going in circles, but there were always people there to help me.”

As more people joined in, others were inspired to contribute. Mondo came next, ruffling Chihiro’s hair affectionately on his first line. Next came Sayaka, then Kiyotaka, then Hifumi and then Makoto. By the time that the last verse, the chorus, started, most of the class were singing, and Chihiro’s watery eyes were for once accompanied by a large grin.

The only people not singing were Byakuya, Junko, Celes and Mukuro. Touko might have belonged in that group, but Leon could swear that her lips were moving suspiciously as she mouthed along. Heck, Leon sang too, even if that made him uncool.

As they neared the end of the chorus, he decided that it didn’t make him uncool. He made it cool. They all did.

“Even my tears change to courage because everyone is so wonderful. I want to return from now on, always, thank you. All along...”

Chihiro raised a hand to wipe wet eyes. Kiyotaka appeared to be in a similar state as Chihiro and spent less time addressing his eyes.

“Wow, I feel like I could like, go save the world or something,” remarked Junko, who had little right to be sharing in the emotion that she played no part in.

Sayaka dabbed at her own eyes with a handkerchief professionally. “Fujisaki-san was amazing... Don’t you guys think she was?”

“Yeah, she was so cool!” Aoi cheered.

“Um...” Chihiro’s hands, resting on Chihiro’s lap, balled up. “Do you think... you could use ’they’ for me, please?”

Everyone stared. Hifumi blinked several times. “What?”

The confidence given to Chihiro through the song and the class’ unity diminished. They hunched their shoulders and mumbled, “W-Well, it’s just...”

Their fingers meshed together. Mondo gave their shoulder a squeeze. Chihiro breathed.

“’She’ isn’t right, but ’he’ doesn’t feel quite right either,” Chihiro explained. “So... I think I don’t have a gender, or maybe I’m something different. If that makes sense?”

“Yeah, that makes total sense!” said Mondo immediately. “Right, everyone?”

’Yes’ and synonyms for it scattered the room.

“I’m afraid I don’t quite follow,” admitted Hifumi. “But I would like to! For example, if you aren’t a girl... or a boy... what do you have between your legs?”

“Um...” Chihiro blushed. “I...”

Byakuya wrinkled his nose. “I don’t want to hear that. What does it matter anyway? To me, it seems like Fujisaki is nonbinary. As long as I know how to refer to them should the situation call for it, then I’m satisfied. Anything else doesn’t matter to me and it shouldn’t matter to you either.”

“Y-Yeah,” replied Chihiro, giving him a puzzled look. “Um... thank you, Togami-kun.”

“You’re so smart, Byakuya-sama,” said Touko, beaming from ear to ear.

“I am, but I happen to know this because I’m similar to them in this regard.” Byakuya clicked his fingers and pointed the index at Mondo. “You and Ishimaru have a song prepared, correct? Well, what is it? It better be as good as you hyped it up to be.”

They hadn’t really hyped it up, but after Kiyotaka shut his eyes and cleared his throat against his fist, and with how he lifted his chin and lowered his hand slowly, causing them to wait longer than needed for the announcement, they kind of had made a big deal of it now. Leon expected something impressive.

“So you’re not a guy, Togami-chi?” Yasuhiro asked Byakuya, stalling Kiyotaka for even longer now.

“Not always, no,” said Byakuya. “However, you’re still to refer to me with ’he’ and as a man until I indicate otherwise.” 

“No matter what, you’ll still have me by your side,” Touko piped up, hands together. “It doesn’t affect my feelings at all... Man... or even w-woman... or something else... I don’t care. You’re still you...! Byakuya-sama...!”

Ignoring her, Byakuya jerked his head back and glared at Kiyotaka. “Well? Are you going to sing or not? Or was this all big talk and hot air as usual?”

“We’re on it,” Mondo told him gruffly. Had Byakuya not chimed in with support for Chihiro, he probably would have snapped at him. He grabbed a microphone, as did Kiyotaka, and said, “'Under Pressure'. Queen.”

“All right!” Leon grinned and found the song for them. 

Its familiar bass line thrummed out of the speakers, every pause between a repetition alternating between a clap of hands or click of fingers, though once every two times that the fingers clicked, a piano yelped two high-pitched notes. Mondo nodded his head slowly through the introduction, looking almost as serious as Kiyotaka, who stared intensely at one of the screens.

A bit before the singing was due to start, Mondo went, “Mmm num ba de... Dum bum ba be...

Doo buh dum ba beh beh...”

Those didn’t count as words and didn’t appear as lyrics on the screen, but Mondo knew they existed in the song. He knew that bit and the majority of the class must have too, even if they didn’t join in.

“Pressure!” Kiyotaka blurted out, backed up by low drumming that boosted, not overwhelmed, his voice, and the rest of the lyrics followed in a similar fashion. “Pushing down on me, pressing down on you, no man ask for...”

“... Under pressure!” Mondo opened his eyes, sounding more like he was singing than Kiyotaka. The bass line decreased in pitch. “That burns a building down, splits a family in two - ”

“ - puts people on streets,” Kiyotaka chimed in.

The bridge that followed had similar nonsensical words as the beginning, and Mondo stumbled his way through them. They weren’t particularly accurate, and where Freddie Mercury could be acapella, Mondo spat and squawked. His talent certainly wasn’t singing and doing so for a song in another language didn’t help, but his gruff, almost strangled quality as he tried to replicate Freddie was no less entertaining.

“It’s the terror of knowing what the world is about.” Kiyotaka raised a clenched fist. “Watching some good friends screaming...”

“... let me out,” they both sang.

“Pray tomorrow,” went Mondo, “gets me higher...”

“Pressure on people, people on streets,” Kiyotaka sang.

“Badda bam,” retaliated Mondo, and he guessed his way through the next several lines before the song returned to intelligible language. “Chipping around, kick my brains around the floor...”

Not the nicest of mental images.

“... These are the days, it never rains but it pours.”

The nonsensical sounds that Mondo spouted made a quick return, this time shouted. Chihiro jumped in their seat at the first syllable and threw a hand to their heart, but their shoulders soon sank and a smile was unearthed as Mondo progressed.

“People on streets,” Kiyotaka declared, and Mondo followed him up with more jumbled nonsense spoken confidently. “People on streets...”

Mondo spluttered yet again and when he sang next, Kiyotaka sang with him.

“It’s the terror of knowing what the world is about. Watching some good friends screaming. Let me out’.”

Then Mondo sang solo. “Pray tomorrow gets me higher, higher - ”

Mondo threw his head back and he let rip a “high,” drawing it out even after his voice cracked.

In a calmer and quieter voice, though only barely quieter, Kiyotaka sang, “Pressure on people. People on streets.”

The music that followed was subdued. During this bridge, Mondo fixed his eyes on Kiyotaka, and Kiyotaka would have responded in kind had he known the lyrics off by heart, or at least had an equivalent grasp of the song as Mondo.

“Turned away from it all like a blind man,” they sang together. “Sat on the fence but it don’t work...”

Kiyotaka raised his voice, singing the next bit by himself. “Keep coming up with love but it's so slashed and torn.”

“Why...?” went Mondo. “Why? Why...?”

“Love, love, love, love, love...” Kiyotaka scrunched up his face. “Insanity laughs under pressure we’re breaking.”

“Why can’t we give ourselves one more chance?” Mondo belted out. “Why can't we give love that one more chance? Why can't we give love, give love, give love...”

This bit, Mondo sang several times.

Kiyotaka stood up. “Because love's such an old fashioned word...”

Aoi bumped her elbow into Sakura. They met each other’s eyes and smiled.

“... And love dares you to care for the people on the edge of the night...”

Sayaka jiggled in her seat a bit, swishing her fingers to the music. Her arm brushed against Mukuro, who flushed and rested her hands over her knees, legs kicking gently and the corners of her lips curling upward.

“And love dares you to change our way of caring about ourselves...”

Byakuya cupped his chin and peeked over at Touko. She noticed and sat up straighter. He averted his eyes, and Leon thought that Byakuya’s cheeks coloured a bit. However, Byakuya quickly splayed his hand to cover more of the lower part of his face so Leon couldn’t confirm for certain that this happened.

“This is our last dance...”

Ah well. Leon leaned back and folded his arms over his chest.

“This is our last dance...”

Mondo and Kiyotaka gazed into each other’s eyes.

“This is ourselves.”

They bared their teeth in grins.

“Under pressure,” they sang together. “Under pressure... Pressure.”

The keyboard stammered to a stop.

Some silence followed. 

Then,

“So...” Everyone snapped their heads toward Leon, who flourished the remote. “Who’s next?”

Fifteen hands reached toward him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leon and Sayaka: http://www.metrolyrics.com/a-whole-new-world-lyrics-aladdin.html  
> Mukuro: http://www.kiwi-musume.com/lyrics/everylittlething/timetodestination/monochrome.html  
> Togami: http://www.nt2099.com/KARAOKE/forbidden.txt  
> Chihiro: http://www.nt2099.com/KARAOKE/allalong.txt  
> Ishimaru and Mondo: https://genius.com/Queen-under-pressure-lyrics

**Author's Note:**

> Translations for the songs:
> 
> Mukuro/Sayaka: http://www.kiwi-musume.com/lyrics/itsukihiroshiandkinominana/izakaya.html  
> Asahina: http://japanese-lesson.com/resources/karaoke/dream_fighter.html  
> Junko: https://jintnews.wordpress.com/2013/02/11/lyrics-hatsune-miku-okaasan/


End file.
